Antonio Villavicencio y Verástegui (January 9, 1775 – June 6, 1816) was a statesman and soldier of New Granada, born in

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, and educated in Spain. He served in the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

as an officer in the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

with the rank of

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. He was sent as a representative of the

Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

to New Granada, where his arrival was used as an excuse in

Santafé de Bogotá Santa Fe (Spanish; 'holy faith') or Santa Fé (Portuguese; 'holy faith') may refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Fe, Argentina **Santa Fe Province Bolivia * Santa Fe de Yapacaní * Santa Fe (Oruro) Brazil * Bonito de Santa Fé *Santa Fé de Goiá ...

to start a revolt; this was known as the

Florero de Llorente The Colombian Declaration of Independence occurred on July 20, 1810 when the Junta de Santa Fe was formed in Santa Fe de Bogota, the capital of the Spanish colonial Viceroyalty of New Granada, to govern the territory autonomously from Spain. Th ...

, which culminated in the proclamation of independence from Spain. After this incident he resigned his office and joined the cause of independence. He was later captured and became the first martyr executed during the reign of terror of

Pablo Morillo Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, a.k.a. ''El Pacificador'' (The Peace Maker) (5 May 1775 – 27 July 1837) was a Spanish general. Biography Morillo was born in Fuentesecas, Zamora, Spain. In 1791 ...

Early life

Villavicencio was born on January 9, 1775, in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, which at the time formed part of the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of New Granada ( es, Virreinato de Nueva Granada, links=no ) also called Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada or Viceroyalty of Santafé was the name given on 27 May 1717, to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in norther ...

. His parents were Juan Fernando de Villavicencio y Guerrero, II Count of the Real Agrado and Knight of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...

, and Joaquina Verástegui y Dávila, daughter of the

Oidor An ''oidor'' () was a judge of the Royal ''Audiencias'' and ''Chancillerías'', originally courts of Kingdom of Castile, which became the highest organs of justice within the Spanish Empire. The term comes from the verb ''oír'', "to hear," referr ...

and Mayor of the

Real Audiencia of Santa Fe de Bogota The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...

. Villavicencio attended

Our Lady of the Rosary University Universidad del Rosario (officially in es, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario) is a Colombian university founded on Roman Catholic principles, in 1653 by Fray Cristobal de Torres. Located in Bogotá, due to its important place in Col ...

in Bogotá and afterwards his parents sent him to Spain to study in the ''Real Colegio de Nobles Americanos'' (Royal College of Noble Americans) in the city of

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. There he joined the

(''Armada Española'') and attained the rank of

. He then returned to

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

in New Granada as Lieutenant of a

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

patrolling the Atlantic Coast. In 1804 he returned to Spain and served in the navy in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He fought in the

on October 25, 1805, serving as Second Lieutenant of Antonio de Escaño.

Villavicencio as representative of the Crown

In 1810 the Regency in Spain was concerned how news of the dissolution of the

Supreme Central Junta The Supreme Central and Governing Junta of Spain and the Indies (also known as Supreme Central Junta, the Supreme Council, and Junta of Seville; es, Junta Suprema Central y Gubernativa de España e Indias) formally was the Spanish organ (junta) t ...

had been received in America. The Court decided to send Regency commissioners to serve as its ambassadors to America and to explain the situation in Spain. Two ''

Criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the word has come to have different meanings, sometimes referring to the local-born majo ...

'' and one ''

Peninsular A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

'' were chosen to go to South America:

Carlos Montúfar Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

as envoy to

José de Cos Iriberri José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

as ambassador to the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed from ...

, and Villavicencio as envoy to New Granada.

Caracas

Villavicencio and his colleagues left

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

aboard the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''La Carmen'' on March 1, and arrived at

La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...

on March 18. There they were urged to sail on to

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, where they arrived in time to witness the events of April 19, the day on which the people of Caracas deposed the Captain General of Venezuela,

Vicente Emparán Vicente Emparán (, or sometimes Emparan ; 1747 – 3 October 1842) was a Spanish Captain General. Emparán was born in Azpeitia, Guipúzcoa, Basque Country, in 1747 as the son of José Joaquín de Emparan. He was governor of Cumaná Prov ...

, and established a Venezuelan Supreme Junta, which gave way to the start of the

First Republic of Venezuela The First Republic of Venezuela ( es, Primera República de Venezuela) was the first independent government of Venezuela, lasting from 5 July 1811, to 25 July 1812. The period of the First Republic began with the overthrow of the Spanish colonial ...

Cartagena de Indias

After his stop in Venezuela, Villavicencio headed to

, where he arrived on May 8. There he found the political situation very tense, and the Governor of Cartagena, Francisco Montes, was using violence and terror to control the province. The people of Cartagena had called for an open ''cabildo'', a sort of public forum, to discuss the situation and devise a solution, but the Governor was opposed to this proposal. Antonio Villavicencio, however, was not, and using his position as an official representative of the Crown, called for the open ''cabildo''. On May 10 the

Ayuntamiento ''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain: * ca, ajuntament (). * gl, concello (). * eu, udaletxea (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin Amer ...

of Cartagena formed a

junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

, composed of native-born Spaniards ''(peninsulares)'' and locally born people of Spanish ancestry ''(criollos)'' alike; among them were: Antonio Villavicencio, Carlos Montúfar, Governor Francisco Montes, and

José María García de Toledo José María García de Toledo y de Madariaga (11 February 1769 — 24 February 1816) was a Neogranadine lawyer and politician, who fought against the Royalist forces during the Patria Boba period that preceded the Colombian War of Independenc ...

. The Junta recognized the Crown of Spain and

Ferdinand VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_plac ...

as King of Spain, rather than Napoleon's brother,

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

, whom he had installed on the Spanish throne as José I. Villavicencio found no reason to oppose the desire for local autonomy as long as the Junta de Cartagena acknowledged the supremacy of the Crown. This event set off a wave of revolution across the land, and was soon followed by other juntas declaring independence:

Santiago de Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

on July 3,

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

on July 4, and Socorro on July 9.

Santafé de Bogotá

In Santafé de Bogotá, capital of the Viceroyalty, word arrived of the events in Cartagena, and of the arrival of the Regency Commissioner Villavicencio in that city. The people of Santafé had been waiting anxiously for his arrival, as they hoped it would further their drive for independence. On the morning of July 20, 1810,

Joaquín Camacho José Joaquín Justo Camacho Lago (July 17, 1766 – August 31, 1816) was a Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist and professor, who worked for the Independence of the New Granada, what is now Colombia, and participated in the Open Ca ...

visited the Viceroy

Antonio José Amar y Borbón Antonio José Amar y Borbón Arguedas (1742 in Zaragoza, Spain – 1826? in Zaragoza) was a Spanish military officer and colonial official. From September 16, 1803 to July 20, 1810 he was viceroy of New Granada (Greater Colombia). During his ...

to see if his request to open a cabildo had been granted, but the viceroy dismissed the idea with arrogance. This caused the revolutionaries to begin devising a plot to launch their revolution. Using the arrival of Villavicencio as an excuse, they went to the house of

José Gonzales Llorente José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

to borrow a flower vase; he refused, and insulted them as well.

Francisco José de Caldas Francisco José de Caldas (October 4, 1768 – October 28, 1816) was a Colombian lawyer, military engineer, self-taught naturalist, mathematician, geographer and inventor (he created the first hypsometer), who was executed by orders of Pablo Mo ...

seized on this incident to incite the crowds to stand up to the Peninsulars, forcing

José Miguel Pey José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

, the mayor of Bogotá, to step in and save Llorente. By that night the situation had heated up so much that a special Cabildo was called in session. This led to its issuing the declaration of independence of New Granada from Spain. While he was in

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, Villavicencio was informed of the events of July 20 by Juan Merino, the

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

of Honda. When he arrived in Bogotá he was informed that the Junta no longer recognized the authority of the Regency Commission; he responded by resigning from the commission and embracing the patriotic cause. Villavicencio immersed himself in the fight for independence, and was appointed commander of a battalion in the southern campaign of

Antonio Nariño Antonio Amador José de Nariño y Álvarez del Casal (Santa Fé de Bogotá, Colombia 1765 – 1824 Villa de Leyva, Colombia)Hector, M., and A. Ardila. Hombres y mujeres en las letras de Colombia. 2. Bogota: Magisterio, 2008. 25. Print. was a C ...

. In 1814 he was made the

military advisor Military advisors, or combat advisors, advise on military matters. Some are soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries with their military training, organization, and other various military tasks. The Foreign powers or organizations m ...

to the

United Provinces of New Granada The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1810 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as '' la Patria Boba'' ("the Foolish Fatherland"). It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada, roughly corres ...

Triumvirate

On October 5, 1814, The Congress of the United Provinces replaced the presidency with a

Triumvirate A triumvirate ( la, triumvirātus) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ( la, triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are ...

, a three-member executive body, to govern the nation.

Custodio García Rovira José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira (March 2, 1780 – August 8, 1816) was a Neogranadine general, statesman and painter, who fought for the independence of New Granada from Spain, and became President of the United Provinces of the New Grana ...

, one of the members of the Triumvirate, presented his resignation on July 11, 1815, to Congress. Congress named Villavicencio to replace him.Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango
Villavicencio accepted and on August 12, he resigned his post as Governor of Tunja, and headed to Santafé de Bogotá, where he was inaugurated as President of the Triumvirate of the United Provinces of the New Granada. His presidency was short lived, however; on November 15, 1815, Congress once again changed the executive power, entrusting it to a President Dictator and a vice president.

Capture, trial and execution

After serving in the triumvirate, Villavicencio became Governor of

, where on May 20, 1816 he was captured by the Royalist Army and transported to Santafé. On June 1 the Permanent Council of War sentenced Villavicencio to death. On June 6, he was taken out of his cell and his military insignia removed to degrade him, and then he was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

by a firing squad. Thus Villavicencio, whose visit to Santafé had aroused the anger of the royalists and led to the colony breaking away from Spain, became the first victim of the reign of terror begun with the ''pacificación'' (pacification) campaign of the Spanish general,

,''Obras completas de Diego Barros Arana''(Page 309) By Diego Barros Aran

/ref> under which many other revolutionaries were sentenced to death, imprisoned or exiled.

Legacy

Villavicencio Villavicencio () is a city and municipality in Colombia. Capital of Meta Department, it was founded on April 6, 1840. The city had an urban population of approximately 531,275 inhabitants in 2018.https://www.dane.gov.co/files/varios/informacion ...

, the capital of

Meta Department Meta () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a ...

and the largest city of the Orinoquía region of Colombia, was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villavicencio, Antonio Presidents of Colombia Colombian governors People of the Colombian War of Independence Executed military personnel Spanish military personnel 1775 births 1816 deaths People from Quito Executed Colombian people People executed by New Spain People executed by Spain by firing squad